PV Pets in Pennsville offers pets, supplies and birthday parties

Vicki Tepper, right, owner of PV Pets, located in Cranberry Plaza on South Broadway in Pennsville Township, and her daughter Nicole Fitzpatrick talk about their new party room where they host birthday parties. (Staff Photo by Britney Lillya/South Jersey Times)

What began 15 years ago as a small fish and aquatic supply store, has grown into the largest, independently-owned pet store in South Jersey, according to Vicki Tepper, owner of PV Pets in Pennsville.

Tepper said her husband, Paul, was “always into fish,” so he decided to open a small shop near Riverview Beach Park.

“It was just an aquatic store, but being in there and listening to the people, they wanted more,” she said.

After just six months, PV Pets relocated to a larger facility where they remained for nearly 10 years, expanding the business to include not only fish, but also reptiles, birds, hamsters and guinea pigs and even puppies and kittens.

Just four years ago, PV Pets moved once again, this time into the 16,000-square-foot retail space where they currently have a full line of “everything you would ever need for any pets.”

Yellow Tangs, which are saltwater fish, are available at PV Pets, located in Cranberry Plaza on South Broadway in Pennsville Township. (Staff Photo by Britney Lillya/South Jersey Times)

But PV Pets is more than just a pet store.

With permanent residents such as Dunkin and Shelton the cockatoo pair, and a reef tank full of salt-water fish including a few that resemble that famous Disney character, Nemo, many visitors to PV Pets come in to do just that – visit.

“We have regular customers who come in everyday just to enjoy the animals,” said Nicole Fitzpatrick, Tepper’s daughter and general manager at PV Pets. “It’s fun getting to know the customers and their animals. We know most of their dogs’ names.”

Tepper and Fitzpatrick realized how much people enjoyed visiting the store, and decided to offer another way of enjoying the animals – parties.

“We opened the party room in December,” Fitzpatrick said.

The party room, which is located at the back of the store, has a festive, jungle theme and is used not only for birthday parties, but also for educational purposes.

“There’s nowhere in the county for (young) scouts to earn their animal badges,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’ve started doing that with the Girl Scouts.”

She said each program is based on the age of the group.

An iguana is available at PV Pets, located in Cranberry Plaza on South Broadway in Pennsville Township. (Staff Photo by Britney Lillya/South Jersey Times)

“If they are young, we keep it simple,” she said. “We bring the animals in for them to pet them, and learn about them.”

Tepper said the educational programs also include a tour of the store floor so the children can see how the animals live, what they eat and how they are cared for.

When children enter the party room for a birthday event, they can choose a hamster in a plastic hamster ball to race against other tiny rodents along individual plastic tracks.

Next, the PV Pets birthday parties take a detour and do all the food activities, such as snacks and birthday cake first.

“We do it backwards,” Fitzpatrick said. “We do all the food first so they can eat before they handle the animals.”

After the food is cleaned up, the PV Pets’ Jungle Guides bring in animals such as puppies, kittens, guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, reptiles and bearded dragons, one at a time.

Nicole Fitzpatrick holds a bearded dragon which is available at PV Pets, located in Cranberry Plaza on South Broadway in Pennsville Township, April 4, 2013. (Staff Photo by Britney Lillya/South Jersey Times)

“It’s fun,” said Quinn Labriola, a Jungle Guide. “I love being with the kids and seeing their reactions to all the animals.”

Tepper said seeing the children enjoy the animals is one of her favorite parts of the parties and of owning a pet store in general.

“You can tell they’re really thinking and they’re interested,” she said. “The animals are good for the kids. I’d rather have them sitting with the animals then with a (video game) controller in their hand.”

In addition to Fitzpatrick who organizes the parties, and the Jungle Guides who entertain the guests, each party is overseen by two feathered friends.

“Dunkin and Shelton are there the whole time,” Fitzpatrick said. “They love the kids. They just sit on their tree and watch.”

The pair of cockatoo, Dunkin who is 2 and Shelton who is a year-and-a-half, originally came to the pet store to be sold.

“Dunkin came in first for us to sell, but we fell in love with him,” Tepper said. “So, then we brought in Shelton, and she became Dunkin’s best friend, so we had to keep her, too. Our customers also fell in love with them. A lot of people come in here just to see the birds.”

PV Pets is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.